How we can solve our Southern discomfort

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New Labour promised aspiration but accepted an economy of low wages. That must change

Peter Mandelson’s memoirs show that we need a complete change of style in the way that Labour does politics. But the problem of the last election wasn’t simply the style of new Labour, it was also its substance. Nowhere is that more true than in the South of England, which was so essential to our 1997 victory.

The truth is that new Labour sought to stand up for the interests of people in southern England, but by 2010 it was clear that those voters felt that we had lost our way. As a result, we were roundly rejected. Labour held